INFORMATION
SONGS UNDER TWO MINUTES (24): DEAR MARJE
15 minutes ago
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Weeping Prophet - The Jazz Dispute
The music is "Leap Frog" by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, with Thelonious Monk, Curly Russell and Buddy Rich (1950).
UK terrorist threat level raised to 'severe'
The UK terror threat level is being raised from "substantial" to "severe", Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said.
The new alert level means a terrorist attack is considered "highly likely". It had stood at substantial since July. It is in response to the perceived increased threat from international terrorism following the failed Detroit airliner bombing on Christmas Day.
Mr Johnson stressed there was no intelligence to suggest a terrorist attack was imminent.
The decision to raise the threat level was made by the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC).
 | THREAT LEVEL SYSTEM Low - attack is unlikely Moderate - attack is possible, but not likely Substantial - attack is a strong possibility Severe - attack is highly likely Critical - attack is expected imminently  |
He said: "We still face a real and serious threat to the UK from international terrorism, so I would urge the public to remain vigilant and carry on reporting suspicious events to the appropriate authorities and to support the police and security services in their continuing efforts to discover, track and disrupt terrorist activity."
Mr Johnson said the new level meant people needed to be "more aware".
The decision to raise the threat level was not specifically linked to the failed Christmas Day bomb attack on a plane bound for Detroit or to any other incident, he said.
He said the government would not reveal specific intelligence details.
"We never say what the intelligence is and it would be pretty daft of us to do that," he said, adding: "It shouldn't be thought to be linked to Detroit or anywhere else for that matter."
But the UK had not reached the highest threat level of "critical", which would mean an attack was imminent.
Move mirrors US
He added: "We have a very adept and very focused counter terrorism facility in this country, which consists of many police officers as well as security officers, so the public should be reassured by that."
The US Department of Homeland Security said the move meant the UK would be on a similar level of alert to America.
 The threat level was last at severe in July 2009 |
"We have enhanced our security measures and communicated specific information to industry, law enforcement and the American people."
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford said the perceived threat from Yemen since the Christmas day attempted attack may be one factor behind the decision to raise the threat level.
But he added that there might be additional factors which have not been revealed by the government.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Wednesday that direct flights between Yemen and the UK were to be suspended over fears about their safety.
The change in threat level comes days ahead of two major international conferences on Yemen and Afghanistan in London on Wednesday and Thursday.
There are five levels of terror threat, ranging from low - meaning an attack is unlikely - to critical - when an attack is expected imminently. Severe is the second highest level on the scale.
The threat level was first made public on 1 August 2006, when it was set at severe. It was raised to critical on 10 August that year after a series of arrests over an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic aircraft but lowered to severe again the following week.
The threat level was last at critical in June 2007, following the attack on Glasgow Airport and the failed car bombings in central London.
The Girl On The Train [trailer]
André Téchiné’s moody character study springs from a recent cause célèbre in France: a young woman’s trumped-up story of an anti-Semitic assault on a train.
The act itself is of less importance than the before-and-after for the ever-curious French director, who sections his societal and psychological probe of the scandal into “Circumstances” and “Consequences.” Throughout both, the camera drifts along with the spacey, superficially carefree Jeanne (a magnetic Emilie Dequenne) as she rollerblades around the sun-dappled purlieus of Paris; falls in amour fou with a would-be Olympic wrestler; spends dutiful time with mom Catherine Deneuve; and riles up the country with her troubling make-believe.
While Téchiné’s picture touches upon race, religion, and the all-in nature of media in contemporary France, it’s his insoluble portrait of this femme — folly and all — that lingers long after.
Read the New York Times’ recent profile on Catherine Deneuve and her illustrious career, pore over critic Manohla Dargis’ review, and see how the BBC covered the real-life maelstrom.
The Israel Lobby (Part II)
Following my post of a week or so ago, I have just come across an excellent documentary from a couple of years ago of the same title over at VPRO's Youtube channel.
You can watch it
It is for the most part in English with occasional Dutch w/ English subtitles but it is very, very good.
As an aside when Christian fundamentalist ministers use the expression "intellectual honesty" I shudder!
Money quote:
"Dick Cheney and his minions (...) have brought the art of lying to a new scale, a new level."
- Col. L. Wilkerson
(Former Chief-of-Staff to Colin Powell)
Money quote:
"Dick Cheney and his minions (...) have brought the art of lying to a new scale, a new level."
- Col. L. Wilkerson
(Former Chief-of-Staff to Colin Powell)
Ubudoll @ VPRO
Can anyone help me with this?
There is a link at the Pere Ubu web site that used to link to an Ubudoll (David Thomas & Jackie Leven) gig that was recorded for VPRO in The Netherlands.
Unfortunately it has disappeared since I last listened to it (probably within the last year)
Unfortunately my Dutch isn't good enough to navigate around the site...
If anyone can find it there or indeed if they have a copy of it I would be really grateful if they could get in touch.
Bedankt/
PS: I believe there might also have been a recording made of a gig in Leiden. I do have the Paris gig recording.
PS: I believe there might also have been a recording made of a gig in Leiden. I do have the Paris gig recording.
WANT!
I did try back in the 60's with my home made cardboard Dalek outfit but this is what I should have had.
There was a wee toyshop in an arcade in Glasgow (details lost in the mist of time) but it was such a treat to get in there every couple of months or so and buy these little one inch tall Daleks.
I know my room was messy as a kid but I never forgave my father for the time that he just emptied everything that was in there (all my comics and toys) and took them up to the dump.
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